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Charles Cajori, who passed away December 1, personified a kind of painter that has become increasingly rare, one who was not only highly accomplished and acclaimed as an artist, but extraordinarily generous and accessible as well.

"Jim Hall made such extraordinary, beautiful music...like nothing we had heard before. Absolutely one of a kind. A master. We all know that. But....what I'm thinking about now is the humanity, humility, generosity....STRENGTH. In all his interactions...whether on the bandstand...or in everyday conversation...it always seemed as if his energy and attention was directed outward....away from himself. He listened. LISTENED....in such a big way....and cared. He was so aware of what was going on around him and could transform it...bring it (us) together....lift it up. It wasn't about him. It was about all of us. He never looked back, never settled, uncompromising, kept going and going, stayed excited, curious, like a little kid. Wow. Jim Hall! Amazing.

In his three decades as a recording artist, Bill Frisell has ranged across American music, from jazz to country to pop to folk. He has collaborated with everyone from Vernon Reid to Elvis Costello, created film scores and covered artists as diverse as Neil Young, Hank Williams and Madonna. Now he's taking on a new challenge, as the curator of Jazz At Lincoln Centerâ€™s Roots of Americana series. The first shows, opening this month, look at George Gershwin, Charles Ives, Stephen Foster and William Billings.

"THERES A BODY OF SONGS THAT WAS JUST SORT OF IN MY BLOODSTREAM. I DIDN'T REALLY EVEN KNOW WHERE THEY CAME FROM."

A little more than a week before the Lincoln Center event, Frisell was in a San Francisco hotel, putting the finishing touches on the program. Soft-spoken and circumspect, he admits that the notion of an Americana theme initially gave him pause. "From my side, that idea left it very wide open. There's a whole umbrella under that word, Americana, a world of music, and I just wanted to make sure we captured some part of it"

Being Here, a compilation of interviews with extraordinary New York City improvisational musicians on the values and practices that inform their music making. I ask them about composing, improvising and bandleading, andabout the relationship between art and the audience. The book is a resource on the creative process, and tells a story of jazz at this time and place. By Radhika Philip

OKeh released Bill's album, Big Sur, on June 18th, 2013. The project marks his label debut as well as the first album featuring the Big Sur Quintet (which combines his 858 Quartet and Beautiful Dreamers trio).

The region known as Big Sur occupies 90 miles of spectacular central California coastline, midway between Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, and extends inland to the abruptly rising Santa Lucia Mountains. Over the past century, Big Sur's rugged coastline and terrain, breathtaking vistas, and potential for communion with nature have attracted and inspired a multitude of creative types, such as Robinson Jeffers, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Ansel Adams, Charles Lloyd, John Adams, Hunter S. Thompson, The Beach Boys, Death Cab For Cutie, and others.

On the sixth day, we are visited by jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. Frisell is no stranger to the Fretboard Journal, he was interviewed in our fourth issue by banjo player Danny Barnes and then, in issue 12, Frisell himself penned a story where he interviewed his guitar hero, Jim Hall. To be honest, we simply never get tired talking to him.